NUMBER OF TOGOLESE REFUGEES SWELLS TO 16,000

UNCLAS ACCRA 000828 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: GH BN TO PREF SUBJECT: NUMBER OF TOGOLESE REFUGEES SWELLS TO 16,000 REF: A. A) COTONOU 409 ¶B. B) ACCRA 800 ¶1. Refugees continue to surge across Togo's borders with Benin and Ghana. According to UNHCR, the number in Benin reached 9,874 as of 10 p.m. on May 2, an increase of 799 in one day. Observers are bracing for another wave after Togo's constitutional court rules some time today on the validity of the elections. ¶2. In a major shift to the west, the daily exodus of Togolese into Ghana has accelerated from 200 to about 2,000 per day. Most of these are women or children, fleeing on foot at the Aflao border station adjacent to Lome. Although 7,438 have registered, UNHCR Representative Thomas Albrecht put the current total number at 6,000 to account for the double registration of refugees who have engaged in multiple border crossings. Albrecht pointed out that many refugees are still working day jobs in Lome but are spending the evenings in Ghana's Volta Region, where they feel safer. Fortunately, the mass exodus had not yet taxed the humanitarian infrastructure; except for 100 refugees sheltered at a school in Aflao, the large majority were staying with family and friends and had not requested any UNHCR assistance. YATES NNNN